Register to remove this ad, it's free! First Impressions Very first impressions of this game weren't the greatest. I had owned Virtua Tennis games before but something just wasn't calling out to me. I only purchased the game as it was at a 'hard to leave on the shelf' offer. *Never a good start*. Once I got the game up and running though I was somewhat satisified with my purchase. Gameplay Overall, the gameplay I would say is very user friendly and really easy to get the hang of. You have a number of varied shot to choose from and all do there function justice. The players all move very freely and jutter free as you would hope. I do find however, at times the UI almost 'overides' what I want. For example, if I'm running across court to make a forehand shot I will make it into postion but the UI will still opt for a backhand. At first I thought exactly what you did "You didn't get far enough to make the forehand", but the next time I made sure I over stepped it so it was almost impossible to make the backhand and yet the UI still forced a backhand out. *Odd* The ball bounce's as it should and shots are made smoothly and with no unusual movements (other than above). After playing three seasons in career mode I think I obtained almost everything there was to do in the career mode. I liked the abillity to take a picture of yourself and use it as the face of your character, although it need a few bug fixes. The face almost always appears dis-figured and mangled. There were four or five mini games to do and about 6-7 tournaments a season. I think the graphics on the game are impecible and really show off the lovely PSV screen. The colours and brightness are used to great effect. I also like how the umpires in the backround still move even when your mid-rally, gives a good feeling of 'realism'. (even though they wouldn't move in a real game of tennis) Online play works well. Rarely have connection issue and everything seems to work smoothly. There is the issue, as there is with a lot of PSV games at the moment, which is the lack of online community. Conclusion Overall, I'm some what happy with the game. It doesn't really give me much desire to pick the PSV up and play it but its an awesome time filler. I'm slightly disappointed with forehand-backhand issue and would have liked to have seen more in-depth tournament in the career mode a long with more mini training games to go with it. I am also disappointed at the lack of rear touch pad interaction and it feels more of platform copy than a re-design for the PSV. I think only the user face on your character was the only thing made for the PSV. I would have liked to have seen a similar use for the rear pad as FIFA used for shooting. I wouldn't say it would be the first game on my list to recommend but it certainly wouldn't be the last either. I think I feel just a little bored, which for a console game is never good. Gameplay scoring 7/10 - Just a few bugs that need fixing, rear touch pad interaction needed. Graphics scoring 9/10 - Almost perfect. Need to fix the users face issue on career mode Pick up and play scoring 10/10 - So easy to learn no instructions required Online scoring 6/10 - Lacked competition Career mode scoring 6/10 - Left me wanting more Overall 6/10 Video of gameplay to follow soon..... Brett Tecknow reviews http://www.youtube.com/TecknowReviews
Good review, although I think you mean "AI" instead of "UI" You may want to change the color, as well as it's kind of hard to read. Otherwise, great review.
